Turns Out That $99.99 Upfront Price For T-Mobile iPhone 5 Was Only A Monthlong Promo

Customers shopping around for a good deal on an iPhone 5 might be a little confused if they’re checking out T-Mobile’s site: Clicking on the “Buy Now” button below the promo will garner one downpayment amount for the 16GB phone, $149.99, while choosing “Learn More” touts the phone for $50 cheaper at $99.99 upfront. So what gives?

TMoNews has a screengrab from T-Mobile’s Field Sales News that shows the $99.99 down was only a monthlong promotion, set to expire today. From now on, customers can expect to shell out $149.99. But the fun part is that the “Uncarrier” didn’t really announce that the deal would be ending today, not in the initial press release and not anywhere we can find on its site.

Sure, on the “Learn More” page it notes that this is a “Limited-time offer” and “subject to change” while still advertising the $99.99 price as of this writing. But as for how limited, you only find that out when you go to actually buy the phone.

This means that instead of paying $579.99 over the normal span of two years (paying $20 per month in equipment charges plus the upfront cost of $99.99), customers will pay $629.99. That eliminates most of the savings on the phone itself, though you’ll still pay less of a downpayment and won’t be locked into an annual contract.

For those of you who did snag a $99.99 upfront price, pat yourselves on the back. Even though you didn’t know you only had a month to get that price, you still got it.